Expected to be the strength of the 2010 Stanford football team, the Cardinal offensive line had an up and down game in the season opener against Sacramento State. On one hand, the unit pass protected well, providing Andrew Luck ample time to throw on most pass plays. At the same time, the running game struggled a bit, averaging only 4.5 yards per carry, excluding Alex Loukas' 48-yard scamper.

Hello and welcome to BeaverFootball.com's newest feature, Beaver Football 101. The man with the chalkboard is recruiting analyst James Greule, and OrangeAttack is the uh...other guy.
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To the untrained eye, football can appear to be a chaotic ballet of bodies flying in seemingly random directions. Nowhere is this more true than the offensive and defensive lines, where casual observers might think that it's simply a matter of strength vs. strength, and scheme is rarely even considered.

The defensive line returns three of four starters that accounted for 20.5 sacks and 172 tackles during the 2002 season. NFL bound Eric Manning leaves a big hole to fill, especially with the lingering possibility that one of last year's starting defensive ends may not make the team.